Now and Before is an image-driven piece about how a lonely old man perceives the rapid changing nature of today's society in Japan and how he attempts to rediscover his place in it. As he looks on the constant flow of movement around him, he finds himself lost in the chaos of people and things. Yet amidst all the changes that is occurring around him, he seems to be unaffected by the force driving everything else. Left behind and feeling desperately lost in the world of chaos, the man reverts to reminiscing about his past and finds peace and serenity instead. In the end, however, he realizes that only in the most simple and delicate things, which have always been familiar to him, both in the past and present, can he finally find his identity and rightful place.
—Narimitsu Ozaki